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The U. S. unemployment rate dropped to the lowest level in more than two years in November. The report shows a mixed picture, however, for the troubled U. S. job market. The news for people lining up to apply for jobs got a little better on Friday. (21) The Labor Department says November’s jobless rate was 8. 6 percent, an improvement of four-tenths of a percent from October. The data also show that the U. S. economy gained 120,000 jobs, which is about the number of jobs needed to accommodate new entrants to the workforce. (22) The slow economy has hurt city and state governments, which continued cutting jobs. But private companies boosted hiring by 140,000, particularly in retail, professional services, and health care. U. S. President Barack Obama said the American economy has created private sector jobs for the past 21 months, nearly three million in all. The newest data show that 13.3 million people are officially unemployed in the United States.